Update and a Recipe for Pizza

Not much happening this week...

• Good: the election is over so there are no more political attack ads on TV and the quantity of mail arriving in my mailbox every day has dropped drastically.
• Not good: Time goes by fast enough already so I would like to enjoy Thanksgiving before moving full force towards Christmas.  Unfortunately these stores think people need to hit up pre-Christmas sales before their Thanksgiving turkey has even digested.  
• Activity this week: I have jumped back into genealogy research.  I received my great grandfather's death certificate in the mail and I was right--his mom had died soon after he was born so the lady everyone thought was has mom was actually his step mom.  Then I was able to find the death certificate for his mother and brother who died in the early 1900s which had eluded me for ages.  Yeah!
• Coming up:  me and the hubby's anniversary!  That will make 26 years!  Time flies!!  I'm still undecided what to get him but I am thinking about sending him for a massage, manicure, pedicure (he loves these things), and taking him to lunch at Fogo de Chao.
• I really want: a Samsung Galaxy S II cell phone (plus the plan from Walmart which is $30 a month for unlimited texting and internet plus 100 talk minutes).
• Sad: a casino in Washington that the hubby used to frequent closed without notice this week.  Not only is this a loss for the many elderly people who played poker together each morning there (often their only chance to get out and socialize) but it is a huge hit for all of the employees who are out of a job without notice right before the holidays.  I'm hoping they all had emergency funds but I am doubtful because most were younger people with small kids.  Double sad.
• Saving money: we haven't yet turned on the heat.  Instead we bundle up in blankets in the evening when we watch TV or read.  I was so happy that our electricity usaged dropped from 50kwh a day to 10kwh per day that I would rather be chilly than increase our electricity bill.
• Undecided: the Twilight movie marathon is tomorrow.  I still haven't decided if I can sit through five movies straight.
• And a recipe for pizza: I made this pizza (in the photo) for dinner last night.  It is so easy to make that we rarely buy pizza.  Here's the recipe: in a bowl mix 1 cup of hot tap water and a packet of yeast.  Mix in 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of oil, and 1 tsp of salt.  Add flour 1/2 cup at a time mixing and kneading the dough until it forms a ball.  When the dough is no longer super sticky stop adding flour and knead the dough for a few minutes.  Oil the ball of dough then set in a warm place to rise.  When the dough has doubled in size dump it in an oiled pizza pan (I use and oblong cake pan) then pat the dough out flat.  Set in a warm place and allow to rise for about 1/2 hour.  Then make your pizza.  I add spaghetti sauce from the jar, whatever type of cheese we have on hand (cheddar, mozzarella, etc), and then our favorite toppings (pepperoni for hubby; onions, tomatoes, and uncooked ground beef on my side).  Bake at 425 degrees until done.